Diffusion Era
The Diffusion Era was a period in the history of the Confederation of North America between the Malaise Years and the Global War, from 1923 to roughly 1933. The period was characterized socially by declining urbanisation, and politically by decentralization of power from the national government to the confederations. The social and political trends of the period were due to the near-simultaneous appearance of two men: Henderson Dewey and Owen Galloway. Dewey was a conventional politician, a low-key Councilman from the opposition Liberal Party. Galloway was an innovative businessman from an old and well-respected North American family. The two men rose to prominence in response to the most serious wave of civil disturbances to hit the C.N.A. in forty years. The Malaise Years The Malaise Years of 1916 to 1922 saw the rise of the New Radicalism, a sociopolitical movement that was, as Sobel put it, "a rebellion against the idea of progress that dominated the western world, and a desire for 'a more simple life' on the part of the rebels." These ideas were advanced by groups such as Ivan Falls' Agrarian Alliance and Arnold Gelb's Universities for Justice. When in May 1920 Howard Washburne transformed his abolitionist organization Friends of Black Mexico into the League for Brotherhood, which aimed at reform in the C.N.A., the new League quickly attracted new followers from among the New Radicals. The New Radicals soon gained control of the League, reducing Washburne to a charismatic figurehead. As the League's membership grew to seven million by the middle of 1921, a backlash arose among conservative North Americans. By the summer of 1922, the C.N.A. was suffering from the worst outbreak of riots and demonstrations since the Bloody Eighties. Sobel does not indicate why there should have been a wave of violence at this time, though it seems likely that the New Radicals took their opposition to industrial civilization to its logical conclusion and began acting to sabotage industrial plants, railroads, and infrastructure. Governor-General Calvin Wagner attempted to rally the nation with appeals to the patriotism of the North American people, but he only served to antagonize the New Radicals and make the traditionalists more militant. James Kilroy of the New York Herald wrote that "the faint aroma of Starkism has made its appearance, and both the opponents of our civilization and its supporters seem pleased by the possibility of its return." Economically, the C.N.A. remained prosperous, but the general sense of moral decay that had been growing since the Chapultepec Incident was becoming dangerous. The Galloway Speech The solution to the growing crisis came unexpectedly on the evening of 25 December 1922. A vitavised dramatization of Charles Dickens' novel The Christmas of the Magi was broadcast that evening by Galloway Playhouse, a programme sponsored by the locomobile company North American Motors. Following the dramatization, Galloway, the president of North American Motors, appeared on camera to give a speech. Initially, Galloway issued the expected general appeal to peace and brotherhood appropriate to Christmas Day. Then, to the surprise of his viewers, he began to speak about "the problems that beset the nation on this day of peace and brotherhood." Galloway continued, "There is little good will in our land in this season of good will. We have succeeded in conquering nature, but many of our citizens tell us the price for this victory has been our souls. Our political leaders tell us the nation has never been more prosperous than at present, while from the universities and the pulpits come messages of moral and spiritual decay." The problem, as Galloway defined it, was that in the C.N.A., "We are a nation of two societies, each with different values, ideals, and goals." "If this is true," Galloway continued, "what can be done? If two peoples cannot live together, they may better live apart." Galloway then suggested that the two factions in the C.N.A. ought to be separated. "With this in mind, my brothers and sisters and I, with the blessing of my father, have decided to organize a national trust dedicated to the healing of our nation's ills through separation." The funds from the Galloway Trust thus created would be "used for the purpose of helping those who desire to relocate, be it in other parts of our nation, the United Empire, or elsewhere." Each emigrant, Galloway promised, "will be provided with sufficient capital to make a new start. And this will be done in the spirit of brotherhood and love." Galloway then announced that further details would be released within the week, and that he would hold a press conference on 5 January 1923 to go into more detail on his proposal. The Galloway Plan The reaction to Galloway's proposal was mixed, with some praising Galloway and others criticizing him. Washburne called the Galloway Plan "worthy of study, and the child of a man of unquestionable sincerity." Other commentators denounced the Galloway Plan as a scheme to sell locomobiles, a ploy to enable Galloway to become the next governor-general, the work of a religious fanatic, or a clever ploy to take over the government. Politically, the Galloway Plan was successful in calming the turbulence that had been growing in the C.N.A. since 1916. Traditionalists claimed that the Galloway Plan would "shut up the anarchist units for good. Now these weepers will have to accept the Plan or show themselves the cowards they are." The New Radicals, for their part, welcomed the opportunity to "denude the nation of its most precious possession, its people. Galloway has done more to destroy this corrupt society than any man in history." The Galloway Trust was established as promised in February 1923, by which time thousands of would-be emigrants had already showed up at its temporary headquarters asking to be placed on the rolls. Governor-General Wagner promised the government's cooperation, but Galloway did not seek any role by the government. Even though both parties had already held their conventions and chosen their nominees for governor-general in the upcoming 1923 Grand Council elections, in mid-January a group of Indiana councilmen suggested the formation of a "Galloway coalition" of candidates who had pledged to select Galloway as governor-general. Galloway rejected the proposal, saying, "Even if selected for the post, I will not serve in it." This ended the effort to draft Galloway, but not his influence. Galloway became the most popular figure in the C.N.A. His weekly addresses after the Galloway Playhouse became a ritual with millions of citizens. At first, Galloway's addresses focused on the details of the Galloway Plan, but by the time the Trust had been established and the mass migrations began, Galloway was articulating his personal philosophy. Galloway's vision was a conservative and individualistic one, as might be expected of the scion of a wealthy, important family. During the election campaign in January and early February 1923, the leaders of both parties sought to capitalize on Galloway's popularity. The People's Coalition nominee, Governor-General Wagner, announced that he was endorsing the Galloway Plan, "and all it entails." His opponent, Dewey, went further, promising to bring Galloway into the government. Dewey also consciously imitated Galloway's diction, style, and even appearance, allowing him to give the impression, without specifically saying so, that he was closer to Galloway than Wagner. Dewey's performance allowed the Liberals to win 81 seats in the Grand Council, their first majority in 35 years. The Liberal Ascendancy Unlike John McDowell and Ezra Gallivan, Dewey did not give his legislative program a name, which was in accordance with his low-key style of governance. In his first term, Dewey introduced over a hundred measures into the Grand Council, generally with little fanfare by Liberal back-benchers. Dewey's legislative program had the general effect of transferring power from the national government in Burgoyne to the confederation governments. In part, this was motivated by Dewey's political philosophy, since he believed that the national government would inevitably lose power to the confederations, and he wanted to build up confederation governing institutions. In part, it was motivated by partisanship, since Dewey believed that his election had been a fluke, and that the People's Coalition would regain control of the national government after he stepped down, while the Liberals would retain control in Manitoba, Northern Vandalia, and his own confederation of Indiana. As a result of Dewey's policies, in five years national government spending fell from 8.8% of the C.N.A.'s Gross Domestic Product to 6.4%, while confederation spending rose dramatically. Under Minister of Home Affairs Douglas Watson, the government cooperated fully with the Galloway Trust, and quietly assisted would-be emigrants. From 1923 to 1928, over 400,000 North Americans emigrated overseas with assistance from the Trust, and another 200,000 did so on their own with guidance from Home Office agents. Since the overseas emigrants tended to be Coalitionists, the Dewey administration was effectively exporting its political opponents. At the same time, over 1.1 million North Americans relocated within the C.N.A. with Trust funding, and the cooperation offered by Home Office agents converted many of them from lukewarm Coalitionists to staunch Liberals. Although there was no formal cooperation between the Galloway Trust and the government, Watson's policy of assisting emigrants gave voters the impression that Galloway favored the Liberals. As a result, in the 1928 Grand Council elections, the Liberals increased their majority from 81 seats to 94. In addition, the Liberals won control of the governorships of five of the confederations, and four of the legislatures. Characteristically, Dewey made no new Cabinet appointments and announced no new initiatives at the start of his second term. Instead, he waited until December 1, 1928 to announce a major study of the National Financial Administration "to see how this important agency may better serve the interests of the nation and its people." Dewey aimed to apply his own diffusionist philosophy to the N.F.A., imposing a requirement that its financings be porportional to each confederation's population. He announced this in a vitavised speech on May 5, 1929, and met with Liberal Party leaders three days later to formulate a legislative strategy. The decision was made to schedule a vote the following week; however, two days after the meeting, on the morning of May 10, Dewey was found dead of a heart attack. The Watson Administration Dewey's unexpected death left the C.N.A.'s political leaders scrambling to respond. The Grand Council was not in session, so the Liberal Party caucus was unable to meet right away to choose a successor to Dewey. Majority Leader John Jenckinson informed the press that the Liberal caucus would convene at nine o'clock the following morning, and would not adjourn until a new governor-general was selected. However, only half of the Liberal caucus was actually in Burgoyne, and a quorum was not achieved until the morning of the 12th, consisting of 71 out of 94 members. Watson was one of three leading candidates among the members to succeed Dewey, the others being Manitoba Governor Foster McCabe and Minister of Finance John Hopkins. Ten of the Manitoba councilmen were still absent when the caucus made its selection, which prevented McCabe's selection, and Watson had closer ties to the caucus than Hopkins. Following his selection, Watson made a vitavised speech in which he pledged the fulfillment of Dewey's programs, "with priority given those ... which will increase opportunity for young North Americans," meaning he would prioritize Dewey's proposed reform of the N.F.A. As promised in his first speech, Watson undertook to gain passage of Dewey's proposed reform of the N.F.A. in 1930, effectively decentralizing the agency and increasing its financings. Watson also increased spending on the C.N.A.'s highway system, subsidized airmobile travel, and established a medical research institute called the National Health Administration. Watson was a shrewd political leader who understood the inner workings of the Grand Council even better than Dewey had. He also used Dewey's memory to gain votes for legislation he wished to see passed. As late as October 1932, he would tell reporters that he was only serving in Dewey's place. This prompted an editorial in the Burgoyne Times on 15 October saying, "Mr. Watson protests too much. We all know what Mr. Dewey did and did not do, and how Mr. Watson's plans differ from those of his predecessor. The Governor-General is a most adept and effective leader, and to continue to use the name of Henderson Dewey is not only unnecessary, it is unseemly." Watson was also criticized for his reform of the N.F.A. Following passage of Dewey's bill, financings increased immediately, especially in the western confederations, while the amount of the average financing declined and the failure rate rose steadily. The ratio of assets to liabilities fell, and the quality of the assets was lower. Charles Gross, in an op-ed in the 12 March 1934 New York Herald, said that the N.F.A. was starting to resemble "a Manitoban enterprise of dubious nature." Responses to Gross's piece included defenders of Watson's reform who thought that the Administration was "at last serving the needs of the people," and pointed out that "in an expanding economy, risks are really opportunities, and so are acceptable." In fact, between 1930 and 1934 the gross national product of the C.N.A. increased from N.A. £97.8 billion to N.A. £120.6 billion, the most rapid increase since the time of the Hemingway administration. Watson continued the isolationist foreign policy that had been established by the People's Coalition during its long period in power and continued by his predecessor. However, during the signing of the airline subsidy bill on 18 June 1932, Watson remarked, "The old isolation will not do. We are hours from the major cities of Europe and the Orient, and not days or weeks. We must rethink our positions constantly." Watson's Election Watson was considered unbeatable in the 1933 Grand Council elections, which presented the P.C. with a dilemma which was represented by their two leading candidates. Harley Shaw of the Southern Confederation represented those who sought to emulate Watson's policies, while Councilman Bruce Hogg of Northern Vandalia represented those who wished to reject them. Shaw himself had supported many of Watson's programs, including his expansion of the N.F.A., though he claimed they had been mishandled. Shaw also agreed with Watson that the C.N.A. needed a stronger foreign policy, and he pledged himself "to seek a more reasonable relationship with the United Empire if elected." Hogg, however, charged the N.F.A. with "irresponsibility," and Watson with "pandering to the basest elements of our society." He also called Watson's tentative explorations overseas, "an invitation to disaster." Their supporters engaged in a bitter struggle at the Coalition's national convention in Michigan City in January 1933 that left the party divided and dispirited. Shaw was able to gain the nomination, and Hogg conceded gracefully, pledging himself to work for a Coalition victory. The combination of prosperity, redistricting, and the high regard for Watson's late predecessor resulted in the greatest electoral victory in the C.N.A.'s history up to that time. Afterwards, Shaw remarked that, "In the beginning I thought we might take it all. Then I hoped we might squeak out a victory. Toward the end I became assured that we would lose by a fairly large margin. But I was not prepared for Armageddon." Following his victory, Watson pledge himself to a continuation of the policies "which have worked so well in the past, and will benefit us still more in the future." Watson, however, intended to devote his newly-won term in office to ending the country's longstanding bipartisan policy of isolationism. This put Watson at odds with Galloway, and given the latter's popularity, cost him a great deal of political support. Watson would spend the remainder of his term fighting off an impeachment attempt led by Hogg, and in the 1938 Grand Council elections the Liberals would lose their majority and Watson would find himself out of office. The Diffusion Era was over, and the long runup to the Global War had begun. Sources Sobel's sources for the Diffusion Era are Milton Hart's Galloway: The Other Side (Burgoyne, 1929); Franklin Drew's The Guard Changeth: The Elections of 1923 (New York, 1931) and The Guard is Confirmed: The Elections of 1928 (New York, 1933); Jeffrey Martin's The Secret History of the Watson Administration (New York, 1944); Don Brokow's Henderson Dewey: A Study in Mediocrity (New York, 1945); Jules Whitney's The Accidental Executive: The Political Life of Douglas Watson (NEw York, 1961); Dwight Pendleton's The Galloway Years (New York, 1964); Edward Keith's The Manitoban Century (New York, 1966); Lewis Sayers' The Galloway Plan: The Modern Moses (New York, 1966); and Richard Maltz's Better Than Any of Us? The Ambitious Galloway (New York, 1970). ---- This is the Featured Article for the month of June 2019. Category:Historical eras Category:Featured Articles